Portal:Telephones

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The Telephones Portal

A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from Ancient Greek: τῆλε, romanized: tēle, lit. 'far' and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice. A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use early in the telephone's history.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. (Full article...)

A mobile phone (or cellphone) is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone (landline phone). The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture, and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones (or "cell phones") in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, Internet access (via LTE, 5G NR or Wi-Fi), short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), satellite access (navigation, messaging connectivity), business applications, payments (via NFC), multimedia playback and streaming (radio, television), digital photography, and video games. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones (slang: "dumbphones"); mobile phones that offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. (Full article...)

A smartphone (often simply called a phone) is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps. (Full article...)

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Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors. In-person therapists often advise clients to make use of telephone crisis counseling to provide the client with an avenue to obtain support outside of therapy if they cannot be reached in an emergency or at the conclusion of a therapeutic relationship.

Telephone counseling is also provided by crisis hotlines, quitlines, and child helplines. (Full article...)

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A prepaid mobile device, also known as a pay-as-you-go (PAYG), pay-as-you-talk, pay and go, go-phone, prepay, or burner phone, is a mobile device such as a phone for which credit is purchased in advance of service use. The purchased credit is used to pay for telecommunications services at the point the service is accessed or consumed. If there is no credit, then access is denied by the cellular network or Intelligent Network. Users can top up their credit at any time using a variety of payment mechanisms. ("Pay-as-you-go", "PAYG", and similar terms are also used for other non-telecommunications services paid for by advance deposit.)

The alternative billing method (and what is commonly referred to as a mobile contract) is the postpaid mobile phone, where a user enters into a long-term contract (lasting 12, 18, or 24 months) or short-term contract (also commonly referred to as a rolling contract or a 30-day contract) and billing arrangement with a mobile phone operator (mobile virtual network operator or mobile network operator). (Full article...)

List of phone types
Payphone Courtesy telephone Emergency telephone Secure telephone Smartphone Mobile phone Satellite phone Phablet Car phone Windows Phone Camera phone Feature phone VoIP phone iPhone Tin can telephone Sound-powered telephone Grillo telephone Golden telephone Reis telephone Cordless telephone Shoe phone Field telephone IBM Simon Mobile radio telephone Foldable smartphone Modular smartphone

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Example of Last-call return from Verizon Home Phone Service

Listen to last-call return (with a fake NANP number, 987-654-3210), voiced by Pat Fleet.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Last-call return, automatic recall, or (on PBX and centrex service) camp-on, is a telecommunication feature offered by telephony service providers to subscribers to provide the subscriber with the telephone number, and sometimes the time, of the last caller. The service may also offer the facility to place a call to the calling party. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various telephone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 2A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 3Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 4Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 5Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 6The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 7The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 8E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 9Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 10Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 11A sign along Bellaire Boulevard in Southside Place, Texas (Greater Houston) states that using mobile phones while driving is prohibited from 7:30 am to 9:00 am and from 2:00 pm to 4:15 pm. (from Smartphone)
Image 12A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 13Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 14
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 15A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 161917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 17A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 18Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 19IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 20The back of a Huawei P30. It features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
Image 21A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 22The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 23Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 24Actor portraying Alexander Graham Bell in a 1932 silent film. Shows Bell's second telephone transmitter (microphone), invented 1876 and first displayed at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia. (from History of the telephone)
Image 25A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 26A smartphone displaying the homepage of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 27This layout of the camera viewfinder was first introduced by Apple with iOS 7 in 2013. Towards the late 2010s, several other smartphone vendors have ditched their layouts and implemented variations of this layout. (from Smartphone)
Image 28Martin Cooper of Motorola, shown here in a 2007 reenactment, made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on 3 April 1973. (from Mobile phone)
Image 29The back of a Nokia 9 PureView. It features a five-lens camera array with Zeiss optics, using a mixture of color and monochrome sensors. (from Smartphone)
Image 30Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 31Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 32The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 33Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 34Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 35Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 36Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 37Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 38A sign in the US restricting cell phone use to certain times of day (no cell phone use between 7:30–9:00 am and 2:00–4:15 pm) (from Mobile phone)
Image 39A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 40A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 41Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 42Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 43Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 44A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 45People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 46Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 47Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 48Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 49Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 50Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
Image 51Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 52Tooltip in Kiwi Browser, a Google Chromium derivative, reveals the full URL by hovering over the tab list using the stylus on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. (from Smartphone)
Image 53Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 54"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone)
Image 55Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 56A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 57Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 581896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 59Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 60The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 61A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 62The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)

Selected biography

Fleet in studio, August, 2008

Pat Trumble Fleet is an American voice actress. Widely recognized for the tens of thousands of recordings she has made for US telephone companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, the former Bell System companies, and others since 1981, she is still most recognized as the person who says "AT&T" in the company's sound trademark, which played prior to any operator assisted or credit card paid call, and on answer when calling AT&T customer service numbers.

She is also the voice for most "star" services (e.g. last-call return, call blocking, etc.) for AT&T local telephone companies, and the voice heard when making AT&T handled calls through 1-800-CALL-ATT (225-5288) and through international AT&T access numbers such as USADirect. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Edison Innocenzo Manzetti Charles Bourseul Johann Philipp Reis Antonio Meucci Tivadar Puskás Douglas H. Ring W. Rae Young Martin Cooper (inventor) Thomas Cowherd Gardiner Greene Hubbard Anthony Pollok Thomas A. Watson Elisha Gray George Sweigert John Draper

Selected images

Image 1A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia
Image 2A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm
Image 3Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania
Image 4Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
Image 5Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886
Image 6Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012
Image 7Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 8Push-button telephone
Image 9Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 10A cordless phone
Image 11Photograph of the interior of the Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Image 12A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s
Image 13A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design
Image 14A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably)
Image 15Foldable smartphones
Image 16Apple iPhones
Image 17An Italian gettone telefonico (telephone token) from 1945, which was used in Italian phone booths
Image 18Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone
Image 19Android smartphones
Image 20Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Image 21Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France
Image 22Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator
Image 23The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963.
Image 24Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany
Image 25An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012
Image 26A Bell Canada payphone with digital display
Image 27A traditional North American rotary phone dial. The associative lettering was originally used for dialing named exchanges but was kept because it facilitated memorization of telephone numbers.
Image 28Landline call blocking in use

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v t e Telephony
Types	Landline Cable telephony Mobile phone Satellite phone Photophone
Accessories	Answering machine Caller ID
Connectivity	Cable protection system Communications satellites Fibre-optical Free-space optical ISDN Mobile phone signal POTS PSTN Submarine cables VoIP
Calls	Missed call Misdialed call Nuisance call Phone tag
Applications	Fax transmission Telephone calls Telephone newspapers Théâtrophone Video calls
Telecommunication portal Telephones portal

v t e Emergency telephone numbers
Emergency telephone Harmonised service of social value
000 (Australia) 102 (India) 106 (Australia) 108 (India) 110 (Iran, Japan, China) 111 (New Zealand) 112 (Europe and others, worldwide GSM mobile networks) 119 (parts of Asia and Jamaica) 120 (China) 122 (Austria, Egypt, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) 123 (Colombia, Egypt) 128 (Mercosur member states) 190 (Brazil) 911 (Iraq, North America E-911 system, Philippines) 988 (North America Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) 999 (Bangladesh, UK and others) 1122 (Pakistan)
Telephones portal Telecommunication portal List article Category Wikimedia Commons